Spotlight Author Jeanine Binder Interview and Books

Jeanine Binder grew up in a small town in California on the outskirts of Palm Springs, where the Hollywood celebrities liked to vacation. After thirty years, she packed up, moved to Arkansas where she still lives today. Her hobbies include her writing, reading good books, and seeing exotic places (loves to go on cruises).

Writing has always been a passion and hoping the next twenty years will bring many enjoyable books for others to read.

What inspired you to write your first book? The want to write something people would enjoy reading. That was always my goal – to sell one to someone I didn’t know who enjoyed reading it.

Do you have a specific writing style? I write “clean” romance. My author-daughter calls those “Fade to Blacks” where I set up the love scene, then it fades off.

What books have most influenced your life most? a mentor? Little Women – I admitted Louisa Mae Alcott for writing that when she was a teenager. Think I’ve read it fifty times or better. In today’s world, Danielle Steel is my biggest influence. I’ve studied her style and researched how she became so successful.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? Keeping the plots fresh – not having the same thing in every book.

Do you have any advice for other writers? Don’t give up. If you can’t get a publishing house to pick it up – which is getting harder and harder these days – publish it yourself on Amazon.

What makes you laugh/cry? Good comedy and kittens make me laugh. Seeing animals abused or senseless killings – that make me cry.

Is there one person pass or present you would meet and why? Sean Connery. He has always been the essence of sophistication and class.

Other than writing do you have any hobbies? Listening to music, playing Diablo 3 with friends, going on cruises for vacation.

What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching? Not much into television. I like watching the Food Network and Cardinal’s baseball, during baseball season.

Published: August 24, 2014

SYNOPSIS

Twenty-five years of fame comes at a price for Nick, leaving him hard—a machine to produce nothing but his music. True to his British upbringing, he’s very set in his ways. Things are just as he wants them—no deviance.

In steps Kate—a studio musician who, by a strange twist, manages to get hired into his band. Everything starts out with the boundaries firmly placed, and it doesn’t take long for Nick to realize she’s going to change his world. To his surprise, he’s the one who is attracted to her first. She gets under his skin.

Living by the creed that letting people close gets you hurt, Nick stays driven in his commitments. He is a musician, first and foremost, but a turn of events leads him to investing in the recording company who produces his music. Can he handle this new venture, his music, and keep the woman he now loves?

EXCERPT

Nick Marshall planted his booted foot onto the desk in front of him, taking a long drag off the cigarette in his left hand and closing his eyes as he laid his head back on the chair. This cannot be that bloody hard, he thought, exhaling and opening his eyes to watch the smoke swirl over his head. In a city the size of Los Angeles, how difficult can it be to find ONE person who can play the piano? Nick was starting to get anxious and more than simply irritated. He had been auditioning to replace Marcus Daily, his keyboard player of fifteen years. Marcus had retired in the spring, stating he wanted to be closer to home, closer to his kids. Nick appreciated his sentiments and sent him off with a bang - a new job at the studio which would accomplish that. Now the bang was in his head as a headache continued to grow through a well of sheer frustration. He’d thought this would be an easy task – now he was three weeks away from his six-month US tour and no keyboard player in sight.

Published: November 13, 2014

SYNOPSIS

Undercover narcotics. Lori had no clue how dirty this business really was until Dr. Leigh Matthews walked into his life, late-night in an emergency room. She was blonde, beautiful, and intelligent – to Lori’s amazement she was just as happy with him and his job as he was. His father’s financial success meant nothing to her. She was a bright ray of sunshine in an otherwise dismal world.

But as Lori prepares to bring down the largest drug operation in the county, can their love survive the stress of his long absences, the dangers of his job, as well as ultimate betrayal? Can they keep their relationship alive and well when the whole world turns upside down?

EXCERPT

It was absolutely not his day.

It had started with an early morning phone call from his ex-wife, Melissa. She’d been ranting about how her alimony check was late this month – which was not unusual. It was always two or three days late each month. And, with that statement, came a complete dissertation of what she was unable to do based on the fact said check was late. Lori – his real name was Taylor; no one except his father ever called him that – had sat on his bed, half asleep, listening to her voice rise and fall as she doggedly made her points. He tried to interrupt numerous times but she continued, unimpeded with her tirade. She had been determined to say what she wanted before Lori ever got a word in. On and on it went –more of her normal drama. Something Lori could care less about.

Lori Winslow was a sheriff’s deputy with the Special Investigations Division for San Diego County, California. He was thirty-five years old, six-foot tall, hazel eyes, and light brown hair which hung to his shoulders.

Ashes to Sparks

coming Feb 2015

EXCERPT

His cell phone rang at ten minutes to eleven that evening. “Jeffries,” he said answering it.
He couldn’t understand the person on the other end. They were intermittently yelling and crying – all he knew was it was Wendy’s voice on the phone. So he waited patiently for her to finish whatever fit she was having at that moment. It was normal for her to just scream and yell on the phone, not making a lot of sense until she thought she had said what she wanted. He could live a long life without her constant drama scenes.

“You done?” he asked, when the voice was quiet.

“Yes,” she said. “I want you to bring Kristen home to me tonight.”

“She’s sound asleep and it’s eleven o’clock,” he countered. “I’ll drop her off at school in the morning.”

“I’ll call the police. I’ll tell them you kidnapped her.”

The threat didn’t even faze him. “Go right ahead, Wendy. I’ll have Kristen’s school come and testify that you continually neglect to pick her up after school. It’s starting to become a habit with you. What the hell is that all about?”

“Fine,” she said, a huffy tone in her voice and ignoring his question. “You’re an asshole, Ryan.”

She hung up the phone and Ryan smiled to himself, knowing he had won this battle, small that it was. He leaned his head back against the couch, closing his eyes against a raging headache. Never again, he said to himself. I will never let a woman in my life again. Just not worth it. Ryan was thirty-three, six-foot-five, two-hundred-twenty pounds, with red hair and green eyes – not like he had issues with women admiring the way he looked. He’d catch women watching him all the time; he just wasn’t ready to jump into anything after all of the chaos he’d gone through with Wendy. It would take a very special woman to change his mind. He liked being able to do as he pleased without having to worry about any repercussions.